Races
The dominant intelligent race on Halse is mankind, with faeries and drakes making up the rest. Human beings Also known as the Starborn among other races. The most numerous people of Halse, as well as the newest arrivals. Humans are skilled manipulators of Halsean magic, having proved themselves excellent and flexible sorcerers over time. However, this means they are also highly susceptible to its effects, and life on Halse has gradually altered this hardy race. They arrived thousands of years ago after escaping their dying home. An unknown event soon after caused them to regress to a medieval state in technology and culture, but parts of their societal identity have been passed down. Most view the 'from-space hypothesis' as a half-remembered distortion of legend or a creation myth, due to their resemblance to the local intelligent creatures and long history of sharing the world with them. Instead, human cultures believe they were the last creatures to be created, to repopulate and dominate the world after the Cataclysm. Humans who have lived in mana-dense areas for generations "suffer" its effects the most, and tend to have strange physical or magical quirks. For example, those from the snowy mountains of Halsha have been known to have color-changing eyes, inhabitants of eastern Gyracco tend to have six fingers and toes on each limb, and those from northern Prey Veng may have violet blood. Humans without any such characteristics tend to be prejudiced and fearful of those who do, even though these mutations are usually lightly beneficial or benign in nature. Life expectancy is 120 years, the oldest individual recorded was 147. Adulthood generally is thought to begin around 20. Examples of human first names: Bridget, Zhang, Lars, Acantha, Nestor, Shu, Abeer, Timothy, Tearlach, Hope, Silvia, Carmen, Nkanya, Sushila, Angelos, Boris, Yuriko Faeries Short, fragile, pointy-eared winged humanoids brimming with subtle magic. They ally closely with mankind since humans saved them from extermination long ago. Faeries have a reputation as both sycophants to Men and tricksters to the rest of the mortals, but in reality their personalities aren't much different. Faeries usually don't reach over 4 ft (122 cm) in height. They usually have either thin or wide frames, with little muscle mass. Their wings may resemble any kind of animal wings - most are insect-like, and rarer forms are birdlike. On average, they live about 75 years, coming of age at around 18 years old. They tend to look like humans in their 20s-40s age-wise regardless of the number of years after adulthood. Traditional faerie names are single names with no surname, with Unra'u pronunciation. Faerie names in the current day, however, are often similar to that of humans due to their close association. But rather than two to three names, they will often have up to ten or so. The longer the complete name, the more distinguished the family. Those whose history is relatively free of human influence will have fewer and more ancient fae names. While relatively weak mages compared to humans, they can adapt to using several different varieties of magic far more easily, especially in non-combat-related magic. Their strength is also in numbers, as they reproduce quickly and have large gregarious families, and can chain their spells together to enhance their effects. Sometimes they choose certain people to partner with, teaching them magic and offering to link their power with their partner in exchange for protection and the stability of human civilization. Examples of traditional Fae first names: Nyctelios, Vir-koth, Ya'nyph, Tru'Nembra, Nath-Horthath, Th'rygh Examples of modern Fae first names: Mopsa, Shimmer, Sylphide, Erlking, Maclise, Shroud Drakes Dragons were a diverse race of winged reptiles, the legendary adversaries of the Fae. The Cataclysm's world-rending spell sapped their mana, draining their power and permanently changing their shape into the weaker humanoid drakes. Drakes are quite tall, between 6'-8' ft (183-248 cm). They most resemble horned humans with wings. Their horns resemble those of their original forms (if they had any). They have a high muscle-to-fat ratio. Despite their more energy-efficient modern size, they still require a huge amount of food and rest if they are very active, so drakes spend a lot of time resting. Typically they live solitary lives due to their high maintenance. Life expectancy of the average drake is about 500 years with adulthood arriving near age 100, depending on their dragon subspecies and their mana reserves. Drakes age slowly, retaining a youthful appearance until adulthood and starting to look geriatric around 420 or so. Drakes are stereotyped as lazy, greedy, and slow to anger, but they're also highly territorial. They each have a secret name in the draconic tongue, only known to the individual, their family, and possibly very close confidants. Compared to humans and especially to faeries, their magic resistance is much greater, and they are physically more powerful. It it said that an adult drake in their prime has the strength of 10 adult humans. Drakes are, however, very poor mages, and most of them are incapable of skillfully manipulating mana at all. What magic they do have usually includes a few crude destructive spells. Examples of drake names: Thammuz, Mehriel, Hivvah, Egion, Araxiel, Kaphkaphiel, Rekhodiah, Gabriel, Sittiah Kindred Also known as the Secret People, or the Shoth among themselves. A curious half-mythical civilization of divine beings who are said to exist on the border of Halse and the Deepskies. Not much is known about them among humans, but drakes and the Fae remember them vaguely in myths and legend. They are in fact the only "true" children of the Cataclysm, creations of the fledgling deity from when the world was young and set apart from the rest for their own safety, as perceived by the Cataclysm. The Unity forbid the god to create its own people, and so it hid them away below the sea. The death of their creator had a ruinous effect on the Kindred. They forsook their earthly bodies en masse to be with the Cataclysm's slumbering spirit and took up a custodial role in the Deepskies.